This page will contain additional articles about Jimmy Carter, as they become available.Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. (born October 1, 1924), an American politician, was the 39th President of the United States (1977–1981), and 83rd (1971–1975) Governor of Georgia. Carter's presidency was marked by retrenchment, after the disappointing agony that had been the Vietnam War, and economic stagflation churning at home. With the international outrage of the Iranian hostage crisis in 1978, and the humiliating Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, Carter appeared impotent, as America saw its influence declining abroad. Inflation and interest rates reached their highest levels since World War II, as the Carter administration froze domestic oil prices in response to rising prices from OPEC. The Misery Index, Carter's own invention of economic well-being, rose 50% in four years. Among his administration's accomplishments, were the Panama Canal treaties, the Camp David Accords, and the SALT II treaty with the Soviet Union. The Carter administration failed to reform the tax system, and to reduce the size of the government bureaucracy, as promised during the 1976 campaign, or to pass the Martin Luther King holiday, despite Carter's own Democratic Party controlling both Houses of Congress, and the White House. His administration oversaw the founding of the Departments of Energy and Education, and enacted strong legislation on environmental protection. In the decades since he left office, Carter gained more respect for his role as an international mediator and peacemaker, and has used his position as a former president to further many charitable causes. In 1982, he founded the Carter Center as a forum for issues related to democracy and human rights. He has also traveled extensively to monitor elections, conduct peace negotiations, and establish relief efforts. In 2002, Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize for his "efforts to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development." Early yearsBorn the oldest of four children to James Earl Carter and Bessie Lillian Gordy in the Southwest Georgia town of Plains, he was the first president born in a hospital. Young Carter was a gifted student from an early age, who always had a fondness for reading. By the time he attended Plains High School,he was also a star in basketball and football. He was greatly influenced by one of his high school teachers, Julia Coleman. Ms. Coleman was handicapped by polio. She had encouraged young Jimmy to read War and Peace; he was disappointed to find that there were no cowboys or Indians in the book. Carter mentioned his beloved teacher in his inaugural address as an example of someone who beat overwhelming odds. His younger brother, Billy Carter (1937-1988), caused some political problems for him during his administration. Carter's sister, Gloria Carter Spann (1926-1990), was low-key and was famous for collecting and riding Harley Davidson motorcycles. His youngest sister, Ruth Carter Stapleton (1929-1983), became a well- known Christian evangelist. He grew up in nearby Archery. He attended Georgia Southwestern College, Georgia Institute of Technology, and he studied nuclear physics at Union College, and received a B.S. degree from the United States Naval Academy in 1946, the same year he married Rosalynn Smith. Carter was a very gifted student, and finished 59th out of his Academy class of 820. Vietnam POW and war hero, Jeremiah Denton, was one of Carter's classmates. They are considered members of the class of 1947, as their class would have graduated in 1947, except that the program had been temporarily compressed. Carter served on submarines in the Atlantic and Pacific fleets. He was later selected by Admiral Hyman G. Rickover for the U.S. Navy's nuclear submarine program, where he became a qualified nuclear engineer. Rickover was a demanding officer, and Carter was greatly influenced by him. Carter later said that next to his parents, Admiral Rickover had had the greatest influence on him. There was a story he often told of being interviewed by the Admiral. He was asked about his rank in his class at the Naval Academy. Carter said "Sir, I graduated 59th out of a class of 820". Rickover only asked "Did you always do your best?" Carter was forced to admit he had not, and the Admiral asked why. Carter later used this as the theme of his presidential campaign, and as the title of his first book, "Why Not The Best?" He even mentioned Admiral Rickover in his inaugural address. Carter loved the Navy, and had planned to make it his career. His ultimate goal was to become Chief of Naval Operations. Upon the death of his father in 1953, however, Carter resigned from the Navy, and established a peanut farming business in Plains, where he was involved in a farming accident which left him with a permanently bent finger. From a young age, Carter showed a deep commitment to Christianity, serving as a Sunday School teacher throughout his political career. Even as President, Carter prayed several times a day, and professed that Jesus Christ was the driving force in his life. Carter had been greatly influenced by a sermon he had heard as a young man, called, "If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?" After World War II, he and Rosalynn started a family. She bore him three sons (John William, born in 1947; James Earl III, born in 1950; and Donnel Jeffrey, born in 1952), and gave birth to his daughter (Amy Lynn, late in life, in 1967). Early political careerCarter started his career by serving on the Plains school board. In the 1960's, he served two terms in the Georgia State Senate. In his 1970 campaign, Carter was elected governor on a pro-George Wallaceplatform. Carter's campaign aides handed out photographs of his opponent, former Gov. Carl Sanders, showing Sanders associating with black basketball players. On the stump, he promised to re-appoint an avowed segregationist to the state Board of Regents. But, following his election, Carter said in speeches that the time of racial segregation was over, and that racial discrimination had no place in the future of the state. He was the first state-wide office holder in the Deep South to say this in public (such sentiments would have signaled the end of the political career of politicians in the region less than 15 years earlier, as was the case with Atlanta mayor Ivan Allen Jr., who testified before Congress in favor of the Voting Rights Act). Carter served as governor of the state of Georgia from 1971 to 1975. When Carter entered the Democratic Party Presidential primaries in 1976, he at first was considered to have little chance against nationally better-known politicians. However, the Watergate scandal was still fresh in the voters' minds, and so his position as an outsider, distant from Washington, DC, became an asset. He ran an effective campaign, did well in debates, and won his party's nomination and then the election, receiving 50.1% of the popular vote, making him one of only two Democratic Party Presidential Candidates to win a majority of the popular vote since Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1944. The centerpiece of his campaign platform was government reorganization. Carter was the first candidate from the Deep South to be elected president since Reconstruction. PresidencyPresident Carter meets with Governor (and future president) Bill Clinton. President Carter - Oct 1980 Jimmy Carter (center, in boat) and killer rabbit (at far right, fleeing). Image courtesy of the Jimmy Carter LibraryThe Carter Administration's foreign policy is most remembered for the Iran hostage crisis, for the peace treaty he brokered between the states of Israel and Egypt with the Camp David Accord, for the SALT II treaty brokered with the Soviet Union, for the Panama Canal treaty which turned the canal over to Panama, and for an energy crisis. He was much less successful on the domestic front, having alienated both his own party and his opponents, through what was perceived as a lack of willingness to work with Congress — much as he had in his term as Governor. A small blow to his reelection campaign came on April 20, 1979, when he was attacked by a "killer rabbit" while fishing in a pond from a small boat. The swimming rabbit, perhaps ill or fleeing from a predator, attempted to board the presidential yacht. Carter flailed at the rabbit with his paddle, splashing water at it, and the rabbit turned and swam away. A White House photographer captured the scene on film. The story broke months after the attack, during the slow news month of August, when White House Press Secretary Jody Powell described the incident to reporter Brooks Jackson over tea; shortly thereafter, it was on the front page of The Washington Post with a cartoon take-off, "Paws", of the poster from the movie "Jaws". On July 15, 1979, Carter gave a nationally-televised address in which he identified what he believed to be a "crisis of confidence" among the American people. This has come to be known as his "malaise" speech, even though he never actually used the word "malaise" anywhere in the text:
Carter's speech, though viewed by some as too much like a sermon, was well-received. The country was in the worst recession since the 1930s, with inflation and unemployment at record levels. But many who had hoped for more inspired leadership after the Ford Administration, found themselves disappointed. Two days after the speech, Carter asked for the resignations of all of his Cabinet officers, and ultimately accepted five. With no visible efforts towards a way out of the malaise, Carter's poll numbers dropped even further. On 1 October 1979, President Carter announced before a television audience the existence of the Rapid Deployment Forces (RDF), a mobile fighting force capable of responding to worldwide trouble spots, without drawing on forces committed to NATO. The RDF was the forerunner of CENTCOM. Amongst Presidents who served at least one full term, Carter is the only one who never made an appointment to the Supreme Court. Domestic policiesA major issue for President Carter was inflation, caused especially by the rising price of imported oil, which was the major source of energy for many industries. Carter added the United States Department of Energy as a new cabinet-level department. The first head of the department was James R. Schlesinger. To encourage Americans to conserve energy during the 1979 energy crisis, Carter once appeared in a sweater and urged citizens to turn down their thermostats. He also installed solar power panels on the roof of the White House, and a wood stove in the living quarters; his successor, Ronald Reagan, later removed the solar panels and the wood stove. Carter's government reorganization efforts also separated the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) into the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services. The inflation caused interest rates to rise to unprecedented levels (above 12 percent per year). The rapid change in rates led to disintermediation of bank deposits, which contributed to the beginning of the Savings and Loan crisis. Investments in fixed income were becoming less valuable (both bonds, and pensions being paid to retired people). With the markets for U.S. government debt coming under pressure, Carter appointed Paul Volcker as Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board; Volcker replaced G. William Miller who left to become the Secretary of the Treasury. Volcker took actions (raising interest rates even further) to slow down the economy and bring down inflation, which he considered his mandate. He succeeded, but only by first going through a very unpleasant phase where the economy slowed down, causing a rise in unemployment, prior to any relief from the inflation. The stagnant growth of the economy (causing unemployment), in combination with a high rate of inflation, has often been called stagflation, an unprecedented situation in American economics. Foreign policiesPresident Carter initially departed from the long-held policy of containment toward the Soviet Union, as first articulated in the Truman Doctrine and held to by all subsequent American presidents, both Republican and Democrat. In its place Carter promoted his foreign policy as being one that would place human rights at the forefront. This was intended to be a break from the policies of several predecessors, in which human rights abuses were often overlooked if they were committed by a nation that was allied to the United States. The Carter administration ended support to the historically U.S.-backed Somoza government in Nicaragua, and gave millions of dollars in aid to the nation's new regime, following a Sandinista coup. Carter continued his predecessors' policies of imposing sanctions on Rhodesia, and, after Bishop Abel Muzorewa was elected Prime Minister, protested that the Marxists Robert Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo were excluded from the elections. Strong pressure from the United States and the United Kingdom prompted new elections in what was then called Zimbabwe Rhodesia. Carter was also known for his criticism of Alfredo Stroessner, Augusto Pinochet, the apartheid government of South Africa, and other traditional allies. Carter continued the policy of Richard Nixon to "normalize" relations with People's Republic of China granting full diplomatic and trade relations, thus ending official relations with the Republic of China (though the two nations continued to trade and the U.S. unofficially recognized Taiwan through the Taiwan Relations Act). The main conflict between human rights and U.S. interests came in Carter's dealings with the Shah of Iran. The Shah had been a strong ally of America since World War II, and was one of the "twin pillars" upon which U.S. strategic policy in Middle East was built. However, his rule was strongly autocratic. Though Carter praised the Shah as a wise and valuable leader, when a popular uprising against the monarchy broke out in Iran, the Carter administration did not intervene. The Shah was deposed and exiled. Many have since connected the Shah's dwindling U.S. support as a leading cause of his quick overthrow. Carter was initially prepared to recognize the revolutionary government of the monarch's successor, but his efforts proved futile. In 1979, Carter reluctantly allowed the deposed Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi into the United States for political asylum and medical treatment. In response to the Shah's entry into the U.S., Iranian militants seized the American embassy in Tehran taking some 100 Americans hostage. The Iranians demanded 1.) the return of the Shah to Iran for trial, 2.) the return of the Shah's wealth to the Iranian people, 3.) an admission of guilt by the United States for its past actions in Iran, plus an apology, and 4.) a promise from the United States not to interfere in Iran's affairs in the future. Though later that year the Shah would leave the U.S. and die in Egypt, the Iran hostage crisis continued, and dominated the last year of Carter's presidency, even though almost half of the hostages were released. The subsequent responses to the crisis, from a "Rose Garden strategy" of staying inside the White House, to the unsuccessful attempt to rescue the hostages, were largely seen as contributing to defeat in the 1980 election. Nevertheless, the 1980 election results were not even close. Carter managed to win just six states, 49 electoral votes and 41% of the popular vote, barely beating the dismal record of Senator Barry Goldwater in 1964, who managed to win six states, 52 electoral votes and 38.5% of the popular vote against an incumbent president. Although the Carter team had negotiated with the hostage takers for release of the hostages, an agreement trusting the hostages takers to abide by their word was not signed until January 19, 1981, after the election of Ronald Reagan. The hostages had been held captive for 444 days, and their release happened just minutes after Carter left office. However, Reagan asked Carter to head to Germany to greet the hostages. In December 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, evidently fearful that the Muslim uprising that had swept Iran would spread to the millions of Muslims in the Soviet Union. (The pro-Moscow government in Afghanistan—placed by a coup in 1978—was unable to suppress the Muslim insurgency.) After the invasion, Carter announced the Carter Doctrine, which stated that the U.S. would not allow any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf. Also in response to the events in Afghanistan, Carter prohibited Americans from participating in the 1980 Summer Olympics, which were held in Moscow, and he reinstated registration for the draft for young males. In order to oppose the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, Carter and Zbigniew Brzezinski started a $40 billion program of training Islamic fundamentalists in Pakistan and Afghanistan. In retrospect, this contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union, but is also often tied to the resulting instability of post-Soviet Afghani governments, which led to the rise of Islamic theocracy in the region. Some even tie the program to the 1996 coup that established the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and to the creation of violent Islamic terrorist groups. At the time, and continuing into the Reagan and G.H.W. Bush presidencies, Islamic fundamentalism as a political force was not well understood. Interest in extraterrestrial life and UFOsPresident Carter claims to have witnessed a UFO in 1969. He filed a report with the International UFO Bureau in Oklahoma City after a request from that organization. [1] During his presidential campaign, Carter promised to release the truth about any alleged UFO cover-up. Through Stanford Research Institute, Mr. Alfred Webre was Principal Investigator for a proposed civilian scientific study of extraterrestrial communication presented to and developed with interested Carter White House staff. This took place during the period from May 1977 until the fall of 1977. President Carter, official statement placed on the Voyager spacecraft for its trip outside our solar system, June 16, 1977: "We cast this message into the cosmos . . . Of the 200 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy, some - - perhaps many - - may have inhabited planets and space faring civilizations. If one such civilization intercepts Voyager and can understand these recorded contents, here is our message: We are trying to survive our time so we may live into yours. We hope some day, having solved the problems we face, to join a community of Galactic Civilizations. This record represents our hope and our determination and our goodwill in a vast and awesome universe."[2] See also Voyager Golden Record. Controversies
Members of the Reagan-Bush campaign and administration (most notably Barbara Honegger, in her book October Surprise), and the president of Iran in 1980 (Abu Al-Hasan Bani-Sadr, My Turn to Speak: Iran, the Revolution and Secret Deals With the U.S.) have alleged that a secret agreement between the Reagan campaign and the Iranians (orchestrated by George H. W. Bush) was responsible for destroying a deal between the Carter administration and the hostage takers that may have lead to their release a month before the election. With the November election approaching, the Reagan team had reason to believe a second rescue attempt was being prepared or, absent that, a diplomatic deal to gain an election-eve release of the 52 American officials held in Tehran. [3] Such a scenario was termed "The October Surprise" by the Reagan team. In 1977, Carter stated that there was no need to apologize to the Vietnamese people for the damage and suffering caused by the Vietnam war as "the destruction was mutual." During Carter's administration, diplomatic recognition was switched from the Republic of China to the People's Republic of China, a policy continued into the 21st century. In response, Congress passed the Taiwan Relations Act. Some have accused Carter of ordering a cover-up of the events at Three Mile Island following the near meltdown of that nuclear plant. He has also been criticized for not doing enough to promote his stated human rights foreign policy stance in his administration, such as continuing to support the Indonesian government even while it was implicated in the commission of acts of genocide in the occupation of East Timor. CabinetPost-PresidencyPresidents Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, George H. W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, and Jimmy Carter at the dedication of the Reagan Presidential Library. Five presidents and first ladies attended the funeral of Richard Nixon on April 27, 1994, in Nixon's hometown of Yorba Linda, California. From left: Bill and Hillary Clinton, George H.W. and Barbara Bush, Ronald and Nancy Reagan, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, Gerald and Betty Ford.Because he had served as a submariner (the only president to have done so), a submarine was named for him. The USS Jimmy Carter (SSN-23) was named on April 27, 1998, making it one of the very few U.S. Navy vessels to be named for a person still alive at the time of the naming. In February 2005, Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter both spoke at the commissioning ceremony for this submarine. Since his unsuccessful bid for re-election, Carter has been involved in a variety of public policy, human rights, and charitable causes. His work in international public policy and conflict resolution is largely through the Carter Center. The center also focuses on world-wide health care including the campaign to eliminate guinea worm disease. He and members of the center are sometimes involved in the monitoring of the electoral process in support of free and fair elections. This includes acting as election observers, particularly in Latin America and Africa. Carter was the third U.S. president, after Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, to receive the Nobel Peace Prize award. He and his wife Rosalynn are also well-known for their work with Habitat for Humanity. Carter visited Cuba in May 2002, meeting with Fidel Castro and becoming the first President of the United States, in or out of office, to visit the island since Castro's 1959 revolution. Not all Carter's efforts have gained him favor in Washington; President Clinton and both Presidents George H.W. and George W. Bush were said to have been less than pleased with Carter's "freelance" diplomacy in Iraq and elsewhere. Critics of Carter's diplomatic efforts (during and after his presidency) generally concede that Carter is honest and well intentioned, but consider him to be naive about less scrupulous foreign leaders. In March 2004, Carter roundly condemned George W. Bush and Tony Blair for waging an unnecessary war "based upon lies and misinterpretations" in order to oust Saddam Hussein. He claimed that Blair had allowed his better judgement to be swayed by Bush's desire to finish a war that George H. W. Bush (his father) had started. In June 2005, Carter urged the closing of the Guantanamo Bay Prison in Cuba, which has been the centerpoint for recent reports of prisoner and Muslim holy book Quran abuse. On November 22, 2004, New York Republican Governor George Pataki named Carter and the other living former presidents (Gerald Ford, George H. W. Bush, and Bill Clinton) as honorary members of the board rebuilding the World Trade Center. Every September he goes to the Plains Peanut Festival and reportedly frequents the Pink Pig Barbecue Restaurant in Cherry Log, Georgia when he and the former First Lady are visiting their log cabin near Ellijay, Georgia. Carter also teaches a Sunday School class at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia. He is also an accomplished amateur woodworker and has occasionally been featured in the pages of Fine Wood Working magazine, which is published by Taunton Press. Miscellaneous
WorksJimmy Carter has been a relatively prolific author. He has written the following:
Further reading
This page about Jimmy Carter includes information from a Wikipedia article. Additional articles about Jimmy Carter News stories about Jimmy Carter External links for Jimmy Carter Videos for Jimmy Carter Wikis about Jimmy Carter Discussion Groups about Jimmy Carter Blogs about Jimmy Carter Images of Jimmy Carter |
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He has written the following:. Bayer was named one of the 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers in 2004 by Working Mothers magazine. Jimmy Carter has been a relatively prolific author. beekeepers has also filed a civil suit against Bayer CropScience for alleged losses. He is also an accomplished amateur woodworker and has occasionally been featured in the pages of Fine Wood Working magazine, which is published by Taunton Press. A consortium of U.S. Carter also teaches a Sunday School class at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia. France has since issued a provisional ban on the use of Gaucho for corn seed treatment pending further action. Every September he goes to the Plains Peanut Festival and reportedly frequents the Pink Pig Barbecue Restaurant in Cherry Log, Georgia when he and the former First Lady are visiting their log cabin near Ellijay, Georgia. Bayer AG is involved in an ongoing controversy with French and Nova Scotian beekeepers over claimed pesticide kills of honeybees from its seed treatment insecticide Gaucho. Bush, and Bill Clinton) as honorary members of the board rebuilding the World Trade Center. In addition to conventional agrochemical business it is involved in genetic engineering of food. W. The company is now one of the world's leading innovative crop science companies in the areas of crop protection, non-agricultural pest control, seeds and plant biotechnology. On November 22, 2004, New York Republican Governor George Pataki named Carter and the other living former presidents (Gerald Ford, George H. In 2002 Bayer AG acquired Aventis CropScience and formed Bayer CropScience. In June 2005, Carter urged the closing of the Guantanamo Bay Prison in Cuba, which has been the centerpoint for recent reports of prisoner and Muslim holy book Quran abuse. They have discovered, among others:. Bush (his father) had started. In 1994, Bayer AG purchased Sterling Winthrop's over the counter drug business, in order to reacquire the rest of the trademark rights to Bayer and the Bayer cross. W. In 1978, Bayer AG purchased Miles Laboratories and its subsidiaries Miles Canada and Cutter Laboratories (along with a product line including Alka-Seltzer, Flintstones Vitamins and One-A-Day Vitamins, and Cutter insect repellent) in order to reacquire trademark rights to Bayer aspirin. He claimed that Blair had allowed his better judgement to be swayed by Bush's desire to finish a war that George H. In the United States and Canada, Bayer's assets were acquired by Sterling Drugs, a predecessor of Sterling Winthrop Inc., and the trademarked Bayer aspirin was produced by Miles Laboratories. Bush and Tony Blair for waging an unnecessary war "based upon lies and misinterpretations" in order to oust Saddam Hussein. After World War I, Bayer AG was penalized by having the rights to its name and trademarks taken away in the United States, Canada, and several other countries. In March 2004, Carter roundly condemned George W. When the Allies split IG Farben after World War II for involvement in several Nazi war crimes, Bayer reappeared as an individual business. Critics of Carter's diplomatic efforts (during and after his presidency) generally concede that Carter is honest and well intentioned, but consider him to be naive about less scrupulous foreign leaders. Bayer became part of IG Farben, a conglomerate of German chemical industries that emerged during World War I. Bush were said to have been less than pleased with Carter's "freelance" diplomacy in Iraq and elsewhere. In 1904, Bayer introduced the Bayer cross as its corporate logo, consisting of the horizontal word "BAYER" crossed with the vertical word "BAYER", both words sharing the "Y". and George W. However in some other countries, such as Canada, it is still a registered trademark. Not all Carter's efforts have gained him favor in Washington; President Clinton and both Presidents George H.W. It is now widely used there for all brands of the drug. Carter visited Cuba in May 2002, meeting with Fidel Castro and becoming the first President of the United States, in or out of office, to visit the island since Castro's 1959 revolution. By 1899, Bayer's trademark Aspirin was registered worldwide for Bayer's brand of acetylsalicylic acid, but through the widespread use to describe all brands of the compound, and Bayer's failure to protect its trademark, the word "aspirin" lost its trademark status in the United States. He and his wife Rosalynn are also well-known for their work with Habitat for Humanity. Bayer's first major product was acetylsalicylic acid, a modification of salicylic acid or salicin, a folk remedy found in the bark of the willow. president, after Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, to receive the Nobel Peace Prize award. Bayer AG was founded in Germany in 1863 by Friedrich Bayer and his partner, Johann Friedrich Weskott. Carter was the third U.S. The center also focuses on world-wide health care including the campaign to eliminate guinea worm disease. Following Bayer's successful reorganization, its chemicals activities (with the exception of H.C. His work in international public policy and conflict resolution is largely through the Carter Center. panel of experts. Since his unsuccessful bid for re-election, Carter has been involved in a variety of public policy, human rights, and charitable causes. The allegations were also proved by an U.N. In February 2005, Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter both spoke at the commissioning ceremony for this submarine. Austrian journalist Klaus Werner proved in his Black Book on Brand Companies, that the Bayer subsidiary H.C.Starck financed the civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo by trading illegally with the mineral coltan. Navy vessels to be named for a person still alive at the time of the naming. OHG. The USS Jimmy Carter (SSN-23) was named on April 27, 1998, making it one of the very few U.S. These companies are: Bayer CropScience AG; Bayer HealthCare AG; Bayer Material Science AG and Bayer Chemicals AG and the three service companies Bayer Technology Services GmbH, Bayer Business Services GmbH and Bayer Industry Services GmbH & Co. Because he had served as a submariner (the only president to have done so), a submarine was named for him. The groups core businesses were transformed into limited companies, each controlled by Bayer AG. He has also been criticized for not doing enough to promote his stated human rights foreign policy stance in his administration, such as continuing to support the Indonesian government even while it was implicated in the commission of acts of genocide in the occupation of East Timor. . Some have accused Carter of ordering a cover-up of the events at Three Mile Island following the near meltdown of that nuclear plant. It is well-known for its original brand of aspirin. In response, Congress passed the Taiwan Relations Act. It is headquartered in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. During Carter's administration, diplomatic recognition was switched from the Republic of China to the People's Republic of China, a policy continued into the 21st century. Bayer AG (German pronunciation "BYE-er", in US usually pronounced "BAY-er") (TYO: 4863) is a German chemical and pharmaceutical company founded in 1863. In 1977, Carter stated that there was no need to apologize to the Vietnamese people for the damage and suffering caused by the Vietnam war as "the destruction was mutual.". Ciprofloxacin — an antibiotic. [3] Such a scenario was termed "The October Surprise" by the Reagan team. Tabun — a nerve gas. With the November election approaching, the Reagan team had reason to believe a second rescue attempt was being prepared or, absent that, a diplomatic deal to gain an election-eve release of the 52 American officials held in Tehran. Mustard gas — a blistering chemical weapon. Bush) was responsible for destroying a deal between the Carter administration and the hostage takers that may have lead to their release a month before the election. Heroin was, until Bayer let it lapse, a Bayer trademark. W. Heroin (diamorphine) — an addictive drug, originally sold as a treatment for cough, and arguably the most successful illegal drug ever. Members of the Reagan-Bush campaign and administration (most notably Barbara Honegger, in her book October Surprise), and the president of Iran in 1980 (Abu Al-Hasan Bani-Sadr, My Turn to Speak: Iran, the Revolution and Secret Deals With the U.S.) have alleged that a secret agreement between the Reagan campaign and the Iranians (orchestrated by George H. Aspirin — a pain reliever, arguably the most successful drug ever. This record represents our hope and our determination and our goodwill in a vast and awesome universe."[2] See also Voyager Golden Record. We hope some day, having solved the problems we face, to join a community of Galactic Civilizations. If one such civilization intercepts Voyager and can understand these recorded contents, here is our message: We are trying to survive our time so we may live into yours. Of the 200 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy, some - - perhaps many - - may have inhabited planets and space faring civilizations. President Carter, official statement placed on the Voyager spacecraft for its trip outside our solar system, June 16, 1977: "We cast this message into the cosmos . This took place during the period from May 1977 until the fall of 1977. Alfred Webre was Principal Investigator for a proposed civilian scientific study of extraterrestrial communication presented to and developed with interested Carter White House staff. Through Stanford Research Institute, Mr. [1] During his presidential campaign, Carter promised to release the truth about any alleged UFO cover-up. He filed a report with the International UFO Bureau in Oklahoma City after a request from that organization. President Carter claims to have witnessed a UFO in 1969. Bush presidencies, Islamic fundamentalism as a political force was not well understood. At the time, and continuing into the Reagan and G.H.W. Some even tie the program to the 1996 coup that established the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and to the creation of violent Islamic terrorist groups. In retrospect, this contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union, but is also often tied to the resulting instability of post-Soviet Afghani governments, which led to the rise of Islamic theocracy in the region. In order to oppose the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, Carter and Zbigniew Brzezinski started a $40 billion program of training Islamic fundamentalists in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Also in response to the events in Afghanistan, Carter prohibited Americans from participating in the 1980 Summer Olympics, which were held in Moscow, and he reinstated registration for the draft for young males. would not allow any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf. (The pro-Moscow government in Afghanistan—placed by a coup in 1978—was unable to suppress the Muslim insurgency.) After the invasion, Carter announced the Carter Doctrine, which stated that the U.S. In December 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, evidently fearful that the Muslim uprising that had swept Iran would spread to the millions of Muslims in the Soviet Union. However, Reagan asked Carter to head to Germany to greet the hostages. The hostages had been held captive for 444 days, and their release happened just minutes after Carter left office. Although the Carter team had negotiated with the hostage takers for release of the hostages, an agreement trusting the hostages takers to abide by their word was not signed until January 19, 1981, after the election of Ronald Reagan. Carter managed to win just six states, 49 electoral votes and 41% of the popular vote, barely beating the dismal record of Senator Barry Goldwater in 1964, who managed to win six states, 52 electoral votes and 38.5% of the popular vote against an incumbent president. Nevertheless, the 1980 election results were not even close. The subsequent responses to the crisis, from a "Rose Garden strategy" of staying inside the White House, to the unsuccessful attempt to rescue the hostages, were largely seen as contributing to defeat in the 1980 election. and die in Egypt, the Iran hostage crisis continued, and dominated the last year of Carter's presidency, even though almost half of the hostages were released. Though later that year the Shah would leave the U.S. The Iranians demanded 1.) the return of the Shah to Iran for trial, 2.) the return of the Shah's wealth to the Iranian people, 3.) an admission of guilt by the United States for its past actions in Iran, plus an apology, and 4.) a promise from the United States not to interfere in Iran's affairs in the future. In response to the Shah's entry into the U.S., Iranian militants seized the American embassy in Tehran taking some 100 Americans hostage. In 1979, Carter reluctantly allowed the deposed Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi into the United States for political asylum and medical treatment. Carter was initially prepared to recognize the revolutionary government of the monarch's successor, but his efforts proved futile. support as a leading cause of his quick overthrow. Many have since connected the Shah's dwindling U.S. The Shah was deposed and exiled. Though Carter praised the Shah as a wise and valuable leader, when a popular uprising against the monarchy broke out in Iran, the Carter administration did not intervene. However, his rule was strongly autocratic. strategic policy in Middle East was built. The Shah had been a strong ally of America since World War II, and was one of the "twin pillars" upon which U.S. interests came in Carter's dealings with the Shah of Iran. The main conflict between human rights and U.S. unofficially recognized Taiwan through the Taiwan Relations Act). Carter continued the policy of Richard Nixon to "normalize" relations with People's Republic of China granting full diplomatic and trade relations, thus ending official relations with the Republic of China (though the two nations continued to trade and the U.S. Carter was also known for his criticism of Alfredo Stroessner, Augusto Pinochet, the apartheid government of South Africa, and other traditional allies. Strong pressure from the United States and the United Kingdom prompted new elections in what was then called Zimbabwe Rhodesia. Carter continued his predecessors' policies of imposing sanctions on Rhodesia, and, after Bishop Abel Muzorewa was elected Prime Minister, protested that the Marxists Robert Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo were excluded from the elections. The Carter administration ended support to the historically U.S.-backed Somoza government in Nicaragua, and gave millions of dollars in aid to the nation's new regime, following a Sandinista coup. This was intended to be a break from the policies of several predecessors, in which human rights abuses were often overlooked if they were committed by a nation that was allied to the United States. In its place Carter promoted his foreign policy as being one that would place human rights at the forefront. President Carter initially departed from the long-held policy of containment toward the Soviet Union, as first articulated in the Truman Doctrine and held to by all subsequent American presidents, both Republican and Democrat. The stagnant growth of the economy (causing unemployment), in combination with a high rate of inflation, has often been called stagflation, an unprecedented situation in American economics. He succeeded, but only by first going through a very unpleasant phase where the economy slowed down, causing a rise in unemployment, prior to any relief from the inflation. Volcker took actions (raising interest rates even further) to slow down the economy and bring down inflation, which he considered his mandate. William Miller who left to become the Secretary of the Treasury. government debt coming under pressure, Carter appointed Paul Volcker as Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board; Volcker replaced G. With the markets for U.S. Investments in fixed income were becoming less valuable (both bonds, and pensions being paid to retired people). The rapid change in rates led to disintermediation of bank deposits, which contributed to the beginning of the Savings and Loan crisis. The inflation caused interest rates to rise to unprecedented levels (above 12 percent per year). Carter's government reorganization efforts also separated the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) into the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services. He also installed solar power panels on the roof of the White House, and a wood stove in the living quarters; his successor, Ronald Reagan, later removed the solar panels and the wood stove. To encourage Americans to conserve energy during the 1979 energy crisis, Carter once appeared in a sweater and urged citizens to turn down their thermostats. Schlesinger. The first head of the department was James R. Carter added the United States Department of Energy as a new cabinet-level department. A major issue for President Carter was inflation, caused especially by the rising price of imported oil, which was the major source of energy for many industries. Amongst Presidents who served at least one full term, Carter is the only one who never made an appointment to the Supreme Court. The RDF was the forerunner of CENTCOM. On 1 October 1979, President Carter announced before a television audience the existence of the Rapid Deployment Forces (RDF), a mobile fighting force capable of responding to worldwide trouble spots, without drawing on forces committed to NATO. With no visible efforts towards a way out of the malaise, Carter's poll numbers dropped even further. Two days after the speech, Carter asked for the resignations of all of his Cabinet officers, and ultimately accepted five. But many who had hoped for more inspired leadership after the Ford Administration, found themselves disappointed. The country was in the worst recession since the 1930s, with inflation and unemployment at record levels. Carter's speech, though viewed by some as too much like a sermon, was well-received. This has come to be known as his "malaise" speech, even though he never actually used the word "malaise" anywhere in the text:. On July 15, 1979, Carter gave a nationally-televised address in which he identified what he believed to be a "crisis of confidence" among the American people. The story broke months after the attack, during the slow news month of August, when White House Press Secretary Jody Powell described the incident to reporter Brooks Jackson over tea; shortly thereafter, it was on the front page of The Washington Post with a cartoon take-off, "Paws", of the poster from the movie "Jaws". A White House photographer captured the scene on film. Carter flailed at the rabbit with his paddle, splashing water at it, and the rabbit turned and swam away. The swimming rabbit, perhaps ill or fleeing from a predator, attempted to board the presidential yacht. A small blow to his reelection campaign came on April 20, 1979, when he was attacked by a "killer rabbit" while fishing in a pond from a small boat. He was much less successful on the domestic front, having alienated both his own party and his opponents, through what was perceived as a lack of willingness to work with Congress — much as he had in his term as Governor. The Carter Administration's foreign policy is most remembered for the Iran hostage crisis, for the peace treaty he brokered between the states of Israel and Egypt with the Camp David Accord, for the SALT II treaty brokered with the Soviet Union, for the Panama Canal treaty which turned the canal over to Panama, and for an energy crisis. Carter was the first candidate from the Deep South to be elected president since Reconstruction. The centerpiece of his campaign platform was government reorganization. He ran an effective campaign, did well in debates, and won his party's nomination and then the election, receiving 50.1% of the popular vote, making him one of only two Democratic Party Presidential Candidates to win a majority of the popular vote since Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1944. However, the Watergate scandal was still fresh in the voters' minds, and so his position as an outsider, distant from Washington, DC, became an asset. When Carter entered the Democratic Party Presidential primaries in 1976, he at first was considered to have little chance against nationally better-known politicians. Carter served as governor of the state of Georgia from 1971 to 1975. He was the first state-wide office holder in the Deep South to say this in public (such sentiments would have signaled the end of the political career of politicians in the region less than 15 years earlier, as was the case with Atlanta mayor Ivan Allen Jr., who testified before Congress in favor of the Voting Rights Act). But, following his election, Carter said in speeches that the time of racial segregation was over, and that racial discrimination had no place in the future of the state. On the stump, he promised to re-appoint an avowed segregationist to the state Board of Regents. Carl Sanders, showing Sanders associating with black basketball players. Carter's campaign aides handed out photographs of his opponent, former Gov. In his 1970 campaign, Carter was elected governor on a pro-George Wallaceplatform. In the 1960's, he served two terms in the Georgia State Senate. Carter started his career by serving on the Plains school board. She bore him three sons (John William, born in 1947; James Earl III, born in 1950; and Donnel Jeffrey, born in 1952), and gave birth to his daughter (Amy Lynn, late in life, in 1967). After World War II, he and Rosalynn started a family. Carter had been greatly influenced by a sermon he had heard as a young man, called, "If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?". Even as President, Carter prayed several times a day, and professed that Jesus Christ was the driving force in his life. From a young age, Carter showed a deep commitment to Christianity, serving as a Sunday School teacher throughout his political career. Upon the death of his father in 1953, however, Carter resigned from the Navy, and established a peanut farming business in Plains, where he was involved in a farming accident which left him with a permanently bent finger. His ultimate goal was to become Chief of Naval Operations. Carter loved the Navy, and had planned to make it his career. Carter later used this as the theme of his presidential campaign, and as the title of his first book, "Why Not The Best?" He even mentioned Admiral Rickover in his inaugural address. Rickover only asked "Did you always do your best?" Carter was forced to admit he had not, and the Admiral asked why. Carter said "Sir, I graduated 59th out of a class of 820". He was asked about his rank in his class at the Naval Academy. There was a story he often told of being interviewed by the Admiral. Carter later said that next to his parents, Admiral Rickover had had the greatest influence on him. Rickover was a demanding officer, and Carter was greatly influenced by him. Navy's nuclear submarine program, where he became a qualified nuclear engineer. Rickover for the U.S. He was later selected by Admiral Hyman G. Carter served on submarines in the Atlantic and Pacific fleets. They are considered members of the class of 1947, as their class would have graduated in 1947, except that the program had been temporarily compressed. Vietnam POW and war hero, Jeremiah Denton, was one of Carter's classmates. Carter was a very gifted student, and finished 59th out of his Academy class of 820. degree from the United States Naval Academy in 1946, the same year he married Rosalynn Smith. He attended Georgia Southwestern College, Georgia Institute of Technology, and he studied nuclear physics at Union College, and received a B.S. He grew up in nearby Archery. His youngest sister, Ruth Carter Stapleton (1929-1983), became a well- known Christian evangelist. Carter's sister, Gloria Carter Spann (1926-1990), was low-key and was famous for collecting and riding Harley Davidson motorcycles. His younger brother, Billy Carter (1937-1988), caused some political problems for him during his administration. Carter mentioned his beloved teacher in his inaugural address as an example of someone who beat overwhelming odds. She had encouraged young Jimmy to read War and Peace; he was disappointed to find that there were no cowboys or Indians in the book. Coleman was handicapped by polio. Ms. He was greatly influenced by one of his high school teachers, Julia Coleman. By the time he attended Plains High School,he was also a star in basketball and football. Young Carter was a gifted student from an early age, who always had a fondness for reading. Born the oldest of four children to James Earl Carter and Bessie Lillian Gordy in the Southwest Georgia town of Plains, he was the first president born in a hospital. . In 2002, Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize for his "efforts to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.". He has also traveled extensively to monitor elections, conduct peace negotiations, and establish relief efforts. In 1982, he founded the Carter Center as a forum for issues related to democracy and human rights. In the decades since he left office, Carter gained more respect for his role as an international mediator and peacemaker, and has used his position as a former president to further many charitable causes. His administration oversaw the founding of the Departments of Energy and Education, and enacted strong legislation on environmental protection. The Carter administration failed to reform the tax system, and to reduce the size of the government bureaucracy, as promised during the 1976 campaign, or to pass the Martin Luther King holiday, despite Carter's own Democratic Party controlling both Houses of Congress, and the White House. Among his administration's accomplishments, were the Panama Canal treaties, the Camp David Accords, and the SALT II treaty with the Soviet Union. The Misery Index, Carter's own invention of economic well-being, rose 50% in four years. Inflation and interest rates reached their highest levels since World War II, as the Carter administration froze domestic oil prices in response to rising prices from OPEC. With the international outrage of the Iranian hostage crisis in 1978, and the humiliating Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, Carter appeared impotent, as America saw its influence declining abroad. Carter's presidency was marked by retrenchment, after the disappointing agony that had been the Vietnam War, and economic stagflation churning at home. James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. (born October 1, 1924), an American politician, was the 39th President of the United States (1977–1981), and 83rd (1971–1975) Governor of Georgia. NY: Summit Books, 1991. The Truth of the Matter: My Life in and out of Politics. Lance, Bert. NY: Harper & Row, 1976. The Man from Plains: The Mind and Spirit of Jimmy Carter. Kucharsky, David. of KS, 1993. The Presidency of James Earl Carter, Jr. Lawrence, KS: U. Kaufman, Burton I. Austin: UT Press, 1984. Panama Odyssey. Jordan, William J. NY: Putnam, 1982. Crisis: The Last Year of the Carter Presidency. Jordan, Hamilton. Baton Rouge: LSU Press, 1988. The Trusteeship Presidency: Jimmy Carter and the United States Congress. Jones, Charles O. Sharing Good Times (2004). President. The Hornet's Nest (2003), a historical novel and the first work of fiction written by a U.S. The Nobel Peace Prize Lecture (2002). Christmas in Plains: Memories (2001). An Hour before Daylight: Memories of a Rural Boyhood (2001). The Virtues of Aging (1998). Sources of Strength: Meditations on Scripture for a Living Faith (1997). Living Faith (1996). The Little Baby Snoogle-Fleejer (1995), a children's book, illustrated by his daughter. Always a Reckoning (1995), a collection of poetry, illustrated by his granddaughter. Talking Peace: A Vision for the Next Generation (1993 and 1995). Turning Point: A Candidate, a State, and a Nation Come of Age (1992). An Outdoor Journal (1988 and 1994). Everything to Gain: Making the Most of the Rest of Your Life (1987 and 1995), with Rosalynn Carter. The Blood of Abraham (1985 and 1993). Negotiation: The Alternative to Hostility (1984). Keeping Faith: Memoirs of a President (1982 and 1995). A Government as Good as Its People (1977 and 1996). Why Not the Best? (1975 and 1996). On October 14, 1978 President Carter signed into law a bill that legalized the homebrewing of beer and wine. Carter is 5 feet, 11 inches (180 cm) tall. |